the lens), wipe in circular motion starting at the center and working around the edge and off in one complete
motion. Be firm, but do NOT rub. Blow lightly to help remove residual solution before it "spots" the surface.
Residual dust from the cloth can be blown off.
Consult your local dealer or call Lunt Solar Systems with any questions or concerns.
Do NOT use Acetone or strong degreaser type products, household cleaning agents, paper towels, tissues with
added scent or color (plain tissues only), or bleach or acidic products which will damage the anodized surfaces.
What am I looking at?
The Sun is active on a daily basis. During solar maximum the Sun will put on awe inspiring displays that include x-class
flares, prominences, surface filaments, etc…
Here is a brief overview of those terms, which will help the observer explain what they have seen.
Prominences: These look like eruptions from the disk (edge) of the Sun. Prominences can be small spiky
looking details, or large cloud like detail with fine feather like internal features. They are, in fact, Ionized
hydrogen emissions being projected from the limb. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the
mesosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's troposphere.
Filaments: These are string like features on the surface of the Sun. At high resolution they take on a 3D effect
due to the cooler aspect of the filament contrasted against the bright, hotter, Sun. They are actually
prominences being viewed against the surface.
Spicules: A spicule is a dynamic jet of about 500km diameter on the Sun. It moves upwards at about 20 km/s
from the photosphere. Father Angelo Secchi of the Vatican Observatory in Rome discovered them in 1877. The
chromosphere is entirely composed of spicules. These features can be seen as "fur" around the edge of the
disk.
Plage: This is a bright region in the chromosphere of the Sun, typically found in regions of the chromosphere
near sunspots. The plage regions map closely to the faculae in the photosphere below, but the latter have
much smaller spatial scales. Accordingly plage occurs most visibly near a sunspot region. Faculae have a
strong influence on the solar constant, and the more readily detectable because chromospheric plage areas
traditionally are used to monitor this influence. In this context "active network" consists of plage-like brightening
extending away from active regions, as their magnetism appears to diffuse into the quiet Sun, but constrained
to follow the network boundaries.
Solar Flares: A solar flare is a violent explosion in the Sun's atmosphere. Solar flares take place in the solar
corona and chromospheres, heating plasma to tens of millions of Kelvin and accelerating electron, protons,
and heavier ions to near the speed of light. They produce electromagnetic radiation across the electromagnetic
spectrum at all wavelengths from long-wave radio to the shortest wavelength gamma rays. Most flares occur in
active regions around sunspots, where intense magnetic fields emerge from the Sun's surface into the corona.
Flares are powered by the sudden (timescales of minutes to tens of minutes) release of magnetic energy
stored in the corona.
Chromosphere: The chromosphere is a thin layer of the Sun's atmosphere just above the photosphere, roughly
10,000 kilometers deep (approximating to, if a little less than, the diameter of the Earth). The chromosphere is
more visually transparent than the photosphere. The name comes from the fact that it has a reddish color, as
the visual spectrum of the chromosphere is dominated by the deep red H-alpha spectral line of hydrogen.
A few more definitions
Hydrogen-alpha: The wavelength of light in the spectrum that these scopes allow you to look at. Centered at
656.28nm.
Bandpass: The width of light at a given wavelength that is allowed to pass. The LS60THa is <0.8 Angstroms.
As bandpass is reduced more surface detail of the Sun can be resolved. This can be accomplished thru
double-stacking.
Angstrom: The unit of measurement for light. 1 Angstrom = 0.1nm.
Etalon: A resonating cavity produced thru the fabrication of highly precise optical surfaces.
Lunt Solar Systems * 2520 N. Coyote Dr. #111 Tucson, AZ 85745 * (520) 344-7348
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